Republicans have lost all control over their party. Even though the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican party, they cannot seem to pass a simple budget. If the budget doesn’t pass by September 30, the federal government will shut down. The kicker is the budget was already agreed upon back in May. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a deal on what the future budget would cut and what was off limits. All the House needs to do is vote on it, pass it, and get the money flowing to avoid a shutdown.
So instead of just passing it, they are arguing over trying to make more cuts. Instead of cutting something like the bloated military budget, they are going straight for the most vulnerable. The vast majority of their proposed cuts would directly impact low-income people, especially children. Most cuts would impact the Title I program that provides desperately needed funding for low-income schools.
The kids probably won’t mind, right?
As reported by The Washington Post, “House Republicans would cut $14.7 billion from Title I in the 2024 fiscal year compared with the previous year.” This would be 80% less money going to schools that only can provide their students with decent materials because of this funding. Republicans justify the move by saying it is where the most cutable money is and claiming previous extra government funding would make up for the cuts.
First of all, if Republicans had any clue how school budgeting works, they would know this isn’t true. Bobby Kogan, an analyst for the Center of American Progress, summed it up by saying, “If your school district is very poor and so is most likely to have used up all its [American Rescue Project] money, this 80 percent cut will simply leave you without money for this coming year.” Secondly, schools, especially Title I schools, never have “enough money.” For the party that bans books and LGBTQ rights to “protect” the children, they really don’t care about making sure kids have basic things like food or education.
This week the contrast between where the two parties are going has grown to almost a humorous divide. On the one side, Republicans are trying to cut money for low-income people and actively not supporting unions. Conversely, Biden is walking the picket line with the UAW. No, the Democrats aren’t perfect. But it’s pretty clear which party actually supports Americans.
(via The Washington Post, featured image: NBC)
